Sleepwalk in skies brings jet down for emergency landing

CHICAGO — A 15-year-old boy on a flight from Chicago to New Orleans bumped into a cockpit door Sunday while sleepwalking, forcing an emergency precautionary landing, officials said Monday.

The teenager, who was returning from a European vacation with his family, made his stroll on American Airlines Flight 1185, which had taken off at about 7:30 p.m. from O'Hare International Airport, American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said.

After the boy slammed into the cockpit door, he fell into an adjacent closet, Fagan said. Flight attendants got the boy back to his seat, and the plane landed in Memphis at about 8:45 p.m., Fagan said.

By 10:55 p.m., the flight with more than 100 passengers touched down safely in New Orleans.